The Biographies of Rechungpa: The Evolution of a Tibetan ...

Rechungpa’s strange illness and cure 117
empty-handed Rechungpa stating he will come back to see Milarepa when he has
something to offer him and only then engaging in conversation.
At the point where Möntsepa had Milarepa telling Rechungpa that his own childhood
had been worse, Götsang Repa takes the opportunity to make Milarepa relate the story of
his life in the version told by Tsangnyön in his Life of Milarepa. However, Tsangnyön’s
famous work begins by describing a time towards the end of Milarepa’s life. Rechungpa
has a dream in which he travels to Buddha-realms and listens to life-stories there and is
told to ask his own teacher for his life-story, for it is even more wonderful. Consequently,
on Rechungpa’s insistence, Milarepa relates the story of his life, which none of his pupils
appear to have heard before. This device enabled Tsangnyön to present the life-story of
Milarepa as an ‘autobiography’ in which each chapter ends with a description of the
emotional reaction of his listeners, giving the work a greater impact. It has also resulted
in Tsangnyön’s work being popularly attributed to Rechungpa himself.
Götsang Repa was devoted to the memory of Tsangnyön; he wrote his hagiography 74
and described the place of his death as a second Kuśīnagara, 75 thus equating him with the
Buddha. Nevertheless, he did not take recourse to his guru’s literary device, but used this
more logical juncture in his narrative—the first meeting of Milarepa and Rechungpa—to
tell Milarepa’s life-story This illustrates how a narrative tradition is easily transformed by
successive generations without rigidly adhering to an earlier, however respected, version.
Götsang Repa concludes his brief account of Milarepa’s life with Milarepa’s statement
that Rechungpa does not need to undergo the same suffering as he did. This serves an
important function in allowing the readership to be inspired by the account of Milarepa’s
life without a teacher or pupil feeling obliged to repeat it, validating the normal teacherpupil
relationship in contrast to that of the extreme legendary version.
Götsang Repa then reproduces a passage from Tsangnyön’s The Hundred Thousand
Songs of Milarepa, saying ‘Owing to the power of good karmic tendencies and latencies
from past lives…’ in contradiction to his initial introduction of Rechungpa as a Buddha’s
emanation that had transcended karma. Götsang Repa’s insertion of the initial meeting as
described in The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa causes him to repeat himself, for
he states again that Rechungpa takes his food-payments to Milarepa.
At the point where the The Hundred Thousand Songs merely says that Rechungpa
received teachings, Götsang Repa inserts some pedagogic material of introductory
Buddhist teachings before returning to The Hundred Thousand Songs’ narrative at the
point where the uncle and mother enquire about Rechungpa and find that he is living with
Milarepa and giving him his payments. 76 The uncle and mother, instead of immediately
taking him away, merely forbid him to give Milarepa his payments, though he continues
to do so.
Götsang Repa states that, at this time, Milarepa gave Rechungpa vows, the
of Vajravārāhī and the practice of which, as in the Tsangnyön version, he
masters at this time. Milarepa also gives him the name Rechung Dorje Drak (Ras-chung
rDo-rje Grags). As described earlier, this contradicts the account from a few pages
earlier in which he received the name Dorje Drakpa shortly after his birth.
At this point, Götsang Repa inserts Möntsepa’s description of Rechungpa’s offering of
meat at the beginning of their relationship. As Rechungpa takes this to Milarepa instead
of his parents, this betrays its original position in the narrative, for Götsang Repa has
already established this change in Rechungpa’s life.